WHERE IS VIC LOCATED?

Vic​​ or Vich​​​​ ​ is a Spanish municipality, capital of the Osona region, located in the province of Barcelona, ​​in the autonomous community of Catalonia.

Northwest of Barcelona

Only 1 hour by car or 1 hour and a half by train.

INDEX:

• HISTORY
  • Ancient age
  • Average age
  • Modern age
• Places to visit
• How to go from Barcelona
• Gastronomy

VIC, HIS STORY:

OLD AGE:

There is knowledge of Vic from the IV century BC. C., when with the name of Ausa it was the center of the Iberian tribe of the ausetanos. Later, with the Roman occupation, it became a tributary city. It became a municipality and a temple was built in the 2nd century AD. C. at the highest point of the city. In the Visigothic period, Ausa was the episcopal seat and, after the invasion of the Muslims, the city was destroyed in the year 826 in the revolt of Aizón against supporters of the franks.

MIDDLE AGE:

The repopulation of the Plana de Vich and the creation of the county of Osona by Wilfredo el Velloso in the year 878 made it possible to rebuild the old Ausa, of which only the walls of the Roman Temple that they had been used to build the castle. The new town took the name Vicus Ausonae, that is, the suburb of Ausona, from which it derived the name Vich. With the city, the episcopal seat was restored and the Cathedral was built in the lower part. In 1038 Bishop Oliba consecrated the Romanesque cathedral of which the crypt and the bell tower have been preserved to this day.

In feudal times, the city of Vich was divided into two parties, one under the jurisdiction of the bishop, who handed it over to the king in 1316, and the other under the lords of the Castle: the Montcada. In 1450, King Alfonso the Magnanimous bought their party from the descendants of the Montcada family and thus unified the city.

The crisis of the Late Middle Ages, fights between factions, of which those of the nyerros and cadells stand out, and the wars against France, caused the city to enter a period of stagnation. The defeat of the supporters of the archduke of Austria in the War of the Succession in 1714 represented a setback for the city, since it had taken sides in your favor from the start.

MODERN AGE

The economic and demographic revival of the 18th century made the growth of the city possible, favored the appearance of important sculpture and architecture workshops and allowed the construction of numerous civil and religious buildings, as well as the current cathedral.

During the 19th century the effects of the war of independence and the Carlist wars added to the economic crisis that represented the transfer of various industries to the Ter river basin. The city recovered thanks to the impulse of construction and the railway with the union with Barcelona in 1875. There was also a great cultural resurgence with the start-up of the Seminary that recovered the tradition of the old cathedral school of medieval times and of the Vich Literary University of the 17th century Students of the Seminary such as Jaime Balmes, Antonio María Claret or Jacinto Verdaguer They participated in the Círculo Literario or Esbart de Vich, helped with their work to give Vich an eminent role in the literary and political renaissance of Catalonia.

CONTEMPORARY AGE:

Since the mid-20th century, after the war, the city gradually recovered the specific weight it had traditionally had in Catalonia.

Vic is a city that deserves to be visited as it has one of the most evocative medieval complexes in Barcelona and in all of Catalonia, which stands out very significantly the cathedral of San Peter. To this we must add the famous Roman temple and the large number of modernist architecture buildings that welcome visitors, while its Plaza Major (Plaza del Mercadal) is filled with renowned sausages on market days and especially the day of the MERCAT MEDIEVAL DE VIC.

PLACES TO VISIT

By clicking on the red button you will be able to see the location of each place on google maps.

The current Vic Cathedral is a neoclassical temple from the 18th century built on the site of Christian temples from different periods, from the first of the 6th century, through the pre-Romanesque of the 9th century (with reforms from a later century) and the Romanesque of the 11th century.

The majestic Lombard Romanesque bell tower with several floors remains from the Romanesque period, four of which have loopholes. It was finished in 1064.

The Mercadal has hosted the market since time immemorial. Its arcades should be highlighted, which, despite showing formal differences between them, present a true unit as a whole.

Among the most important buildings, the Casa Comella stands out, in a modernist style, with its beautiful engravings on the façade; the Costa house and the Cortina house, also from the modernist period; the Tolosa house from the Baroque period; the Moixó house, with Baroque and Renaissance elements, and the Beuló house with Gothic and Baroque elements.

During the 14th century, King Pere III ordered the construction of the walls that bear his name for defense reasons. They basically followed the same layout as the previous ones from the 12th century.

These walls, which surrounded the entire historic center, consisted of 40 towers and 7 portals, the main one of which was the Queralt portal. Currently, a good part remains in the Rambla de los Montcada.

The Episcopal Museum of Vic is one of the most famous in the world in terms of sculpture, imagery, mural painting and painting on Romanesque and Gothic newspapers.

Of the set of Romanesque wall paintings preserved in the Episcopal Museum of Vic, those of Sant Martí de Sescorts, Sant Sadurní de Osormort la Seu d'Urgell, El Brull, etc. stand out.

Among the panel paintings that served as altar frontals we have those of Santa Margarida Sescorts, El Coll, Lluçà, Dosmunts, Vidrá, Espinelves, etc.

In one of the old portals of the wall, called the Queralt portal, it is understood the bridge that bears the same name. Romanesque in style, built in the 11th century, it marks the old road to Barcelona that superseded the primitive Roman road.

The most important monument due to its antiquity is the Roman Temple. It was built at the beginning of the 2nd century and its state of conservation is certainly outstanding.
The columned portico rises above the podium, where it is accessed by a front staircase. The columns are smooth, with Corinthian capitals. The entire cella is surmounted by an Ionic entablature.

This Roman temple was unknown for centuries because it was surrounded by and formed part of the Montcada Castle, built at the end of the 11th century. The walls of the Temple cell formed the inner courtyard of the castle and were recovered starting in 1882 when the old building that had housed the veguer's residence, headquarters of the Royal Curia, city granary and prison was overthrown. Del Castillo remains of the northern and western sectors

The Church of Sant Just is from the Gothic period. The nave and the apse date from the 16th century and inside there is a Baroque altarpiece. It was the old church of a Jesuit convent and later formed part of the old seminary, a building currently in the rehabilitation phase. It was the headquarters of the famous Vic Seminary from 1770 to 1947, where Jaume Balmes, Sant Antoni M. Claret and Jacinto Verdaguer studied, among many others.

Among the Baroque houses and churches, the Casa Cortada stands out, a manor house that contains rooms decorated with scenes from Telèmac and Sant Maurici, the work of the painters Francesc Pla el Vigatà and Llucià Romeo, and a room painted with Chinese motifs; the church and convent of Sant Doménech: the church is made up of a central nave with side chapels. The presbytery is decorated with paintings by Llucià Romeu that represent the mysteries of the Rosary. The cloister of the convent is very slim and original. There is also the church of Dolors, from where every Palm Sunday the procession of the armed men leaves through the streets of the historic center, and the chapel of La Pietat: attached to it is the Romanesque façade of Sant Saturní. And the Casa Parella, where the garden located on the left side of the building also stands out, the greatest exponent of one of the typical hanging gardens found within the walls.

Among the modernist houses, the Casa Bayés stands out, where the old Literary University is located; the Anita Colomer House; Casa Ricart and Casa Masferrer: its façade has beautiful graffiti, as well as a tower and a garden with a railing where there are four figures that symbolize the four seasons of the year.

The convent of La Mercè, of the Claretian missionaries,
is from the Noucentista period.

HOW TO GO FROM BARCELONA TO VIC

Between DECEMBER 8 and 11, 2022 it was the Medieval Market that I decided to go to with my friend Aaron on the recommendation of Santi who told us about this event. We were lucky to find the A-B RECURRENT public transport promo for €10 with rodalíes, which allowed us to travel unlimitedly through all areas of Barcelona by train. Same card that, for example, I used to go to Sitges. We bought it at the Arc de Triunf station and from there we took the train to Vic.

EXAMPLE OF THE CARD I USED (I couldn't take a picture of it, but I swear it was like that).

GASTRONOMY

If you're going to Vic for the Mercat Medieval cuisine will be very large. Since this is a market mainly for meals. I remember having bought which I named as "the bread medieval, mulled wine, sanguches of meat, broths, stews, and a dessert of chocolate truffles that was amazing!